Category: Germany

Watching people dressed in old-fashioned clothing and doused in silver paint trying to stand still is not a reason to visit Berlin, but the sight is very entertaining once you get there. —Lori Tripoli ~Advertisement~ ~Advertisement~ Planning…

I see Germany as strong and fearless; it has that strong economy, those fast highways, that World War II history, a reputation for orderliness. I am not surprised to see a monstrously large statue of Germany’s first chancellor, Otto von…

Add to the list of things I do not expect to see floating on the Elbe River in Hamburg, Germany: a steamboat named Mississippi Queen. U.S. culture is found in the most unlikely places. —Lori Tripoli Seeking other unusual sites…

I’m not sure why rooms with a fireplace are so attractive to me since I have a fireplace at home, but I’m quick to click “buy now” whenever a hotel features a bit of flame. Fireplaces are so romantic that…

I didn’t go to Hamburg because of any love of the Beatles, but I’m happy to have rediscovered them there. Partial to the Rolling Stones, I don’t consider myself a huge Beatles fan. Sure, I had Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts…

Fresh from a visit to Salem, Mass., and recalling a more distant one to Rouen, France, I can’t help but think about the similarities between these two places and how they’ve treated an especially dark period in their past. As…

I watched the 2000 German film, In July (Im Juli), again, hoping to catch scenes of Hamburg. I’d first watched the movie long before I thought about going to Hamburg, or went to Hamburg, and didn’t remember how much of…

The IBA Energy Bunker in the Wilhelmsburg section of Hamburg, Germany, officially opened this week. The monstrous bunker, built by slave labor during World War II to shelter residents from Allied air raids and to defend Hamburg, was an imposing—and…

The Sunshine State

Where to Stay for the Convenience On a quick trip to the west coast of Florida for a family wedding, the Brawny Sherpa and I need someplace convenient to stay. For us, that means a hotel with parking that is…

When It Absolutely, Positively Has to Be High-End I will forever regret missing out on what would have been my first trip to Venice, Italy. A friend and I were alternating hotel qualities: one day slumming it, the next day…

Not every vacation can be a jungle adventure in the Amazon. Sometimes, a traveler just needs to get away and for the trip to be unthinkingly stress-free. For a quick escape, I tend to choose Florida. It’s all too easy…

The Brawny Sherpa and I wander aimlessly through Captiva Island, Fla., having ditched our rental car somewhere with the optimistic hope that we’ll remember its color, make and license number when it’s time to retrieve it. This is a day…

Arriving in Key West at a moment when our work woes and overall life stresses are at a peak, the Brawny Sherpa and I embrace escapism of the overindulgent sort. Having learned that when lost in the jungle, the first…

Who Is the Bashful Adventurer?

A telemarketer changed my path. My life was humming along. I was a freelance writer and editor, a single mom, a frequent volunteer, and content. Then I decided to give a random telephone surveyor a break. I agreed to answer a few questions on travel destinations and tourist preferences. When I answered never to “how many times have you been to London?,” the telemarketer’s tone shifted quickly. She was talking to an unworldly woman.

She was right. I’d been to Italy, the Caribbean, Mexico, Canada, and plenty of states. I hadn’t trekked through Europe, though, or gone to Asia or visited the Middle East. I was alone, I was a single mom, I was a freelancer. I stopped letting these be excuses and started getting on planes. I became the Bashful Adventurer.

—Lori Tripoli

Around the Planet

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Nature Trips

Roughing It in Belize—But with Massages, Cocktails & Picnic Lunches I learn how to breathe at the Cotton Tree Lodge. Partway through my weeklong stay, while enjoying a massage by a somewhat mystical masseuse, I am told to breathe deeply.…

The Lure of Hot Lava Living in New York State, as I do, I haven’t historically had to worry much about volcanoes and the possibility that they might at some point obstruct my way, or worse. The first time I…

What You Need to Know before Heading to Peru The weather at Machu Picchu is temperamental: cloudy one minute, sunny the next. How to cope? Layer your clothing. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini Fresh from a long weekend spent ascending Machu…

I didn’t head to Ecuador to be at one with the birds. I’ve never been especially drawn to the things. I didn’t appreciate the claws on the parrots at Parrot Jungle. My grandmother’s caged parakeets—still singing despite their incarceration—annoyed me.…

“How did you choose Belize?” is the question I most commonly hear, especially after I’ve been telling stories about my visit: the howler monkeys, jaguar prints, a jungle survival tour, bats at the window, a scorpion on the door,…